THE NEW YOR.KER. Clipper flying boat ferried us to N ew- foundland in fourteen hours, and thence to New York Harbor, where we landed thirty-four hours after leav- ing London-a record time. When the immigration officer read in my passport that my British nationality was of exactly four days' standing, he decided to unmask this foreign agent whom the wily British were trying to foist on their unsuspecting ally, and subjected me to a sharp interrogation. When I had told him most of my life history, except for my involuntary so- journ in Canada, he began questioning me about relatives in the United States. A brother. What is his name? When was he born? What does he do? Where does he live? My heart thumped as I remembered that my brother's house had been searched by the F.B.I. when they found out that he had been in correspondence with a prisoner of war in Canada. Would this be in the immigration officer's file? If it was, he gave no sign, but continued. What other relatives? A sister. Where does she live? Prytania Street, New Orleans. Suddenly, his tense face re- laxed into a broad grin. "But that's the street where I was born." And I was admitted. Noone whose sister lived on Prytania Street, New Orleans, could be a spy. On arriving in Washington, where I imagined the British team to be busy sixteen hours a day with the planning of the bergship's construction, I was surprised to find them all welcoming me at Union Station in the middle of a weekday afternoon. They wondered what the weather had been like in London when I left-a question that I diagnosed as an expression of home- sickness-and seemed in no hurry to get back to their desks. The next morning, when I reported for duty in a hut outside the Department of the Navy Building, on Constitution Ave- nue, I heard that Habakkuk was under scrutiny by the department's naval en- gineers, and that pending their report there was nothing we could do. Lord Zuckerman, another of Mountbatten's wartime scientific advisers, recently eXplained to me why no one paid much attention to us in Washington. Shortly after our arrival there, Mountbatten left Combined Operations to become Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in Southeast Asia. Since he had been Habakkuk's principal advocate, its priority took a deep plunge. So as not to idle away my time, I asked for permission to visit the Canadian physi- cists and engineers who had carried 51 No 3 , (Authentic examples of the standard of service at the Hay-Adams Hotel) A first tlme guest charged out of the elevator, headed for the front door. His peripheral vision caught a glimmer of the yellow moiré walls of the Henry Adams Room, which has become breakfast meeting place of choice for official Washington. "How lovely!" he ex... claimed, "I wish I had time for break fast." Andrew, one of our people, overheard the remark, and by the time the guest had checked out he'd delivered a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. Was that difficult to do? Andrew would have found it difficult not to have done it. The Hay Adams. A hotel with the grace of a fine home. Across from the White House at One Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., (202) 638 6600, (800) 424 5054. v ..,., ' w .... I , 'GUARANTEED FOR A RAINY DA Let it pour! Now yO\! can get thf$ bnght, Import slicke ($20) from The Talbots Fall J85 Catalog. Made wIth a warm, flannel qUIlted lining-and f atu!lng an adjustable hood and eaSY Bnap front and pockets.......the sbckerprotects you from the elements, day and night. And it also provides the'protecn of The Talbots uncondìtlonal guarantee. Ifyou"re not completely satIsfied with any purchase, 'y get a refund or exchange any tÍme. See for yourself. To subscribe to our catalog-and/or order your slicker-call tolI free 1..800 22,..8200. Or return this " form to: The Talbots, Dept. S Htngham " MA 02041 We'll even pay shIpping and handlíng o Enclosed is $3 for 0 issues Qfthe catalog Quantity,. Color 0 Red 0 Navy 0 Tan Sìze .. 0 S 6.8 0 M/IO..12 LI q Ch ck 0 VISA 0 MC o Am Ex 0 TheTàlbotsCard ., .' Carp Ii Exp Name Addre Cuy " Staté Ztp ..,...... ð To order your catalog and/or sIt er, just call toll free 1..800 225 8200